Elan

I'm not really a Reggae guy.

However, I read a review of a singer, Elan Atias, another young Jewish Reggae singer who previously toured with The Wailers as the voice of Bob Marley. That piqued my interest enough to have a listen. And, sure enough, he had a lovely, silky voice. Very easy on the ears.

As luck would have it, he was playing at The Indie, opening for another group, The B-Side Players. His set was scheduled for 9:30, so we went down earlier than we normally would for a Friday night show.

I expected a room full of Rasta hippies and an Irie smoky room. Unfortunately, as I should have expected, the place was almost completely empty. People don't really show up to that place until 10:30 or 11:00 normally. Apparently his arrival was not highly anticipated.

He proceeded to put on a show that would easily play to a giant stadium of cheering Bob lovers. It felt extremely awkward and uncomfortable, to me at least, that he was actually playing to about four Marina girls shimmying and stirring their cocktails. I felt bad for Elan and embarrassed for San Francisco. I'm sure he expected a larger crowd with a different demographic. The crowd eventually thickened somewhat by the end of his set and so at least a few more folks got to hear him. But ultimately, it felt like a waste of a great show to me. I couldn't help thinking to myself, "I think Reggae is officially dead."

I happened to notice that he was wearing an Ocean Pacific khaki jacket on stage. I felt a great sense of irony since his outfit seemed to scream out "I'm a communist!" - very Fidel Castro. So the small, faint OP logo struck me. I thought maybe we weren't supposed to see that.

Then yesterday, I picked up a copy of my favorite music magazine, URB, and guess who was inside the front cover in a two page Ocean Pacific spread. None other than our friend Elan.

I suppose we all have to make those tough career choices. It just seems so non-authentic for a communist-dressing Reggae singer to be sponsored by a big corporate clothing company. I know that the music should be independent of politics. I should be able to compartmentalize the two. But something about seeing that ad made me laugh out loud.

I still think his music is pleasant, and I'll keep listening. But my general admiration, I'd have to say, has faded.